Monday, April 18, 2011

Party Like a Nurse

Today is the 105th anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake that pretty much leveled and burned the city to the ground.
However, one of the aftermaths of that disaster was the establishment of one of the oldest nursing schools in the country at UCSF. With a proud history of graduate and research nursing that has lasted through two world wars, financial meltdowns and political fighting, it helped make nursing a respectable occupation.

The flip side:

Advance for Nurses is a company dedicated to making and selling products to nurses and health care professionals. Yet, they play right into spreading the stereotype of being the good time party nurse. Thanks for spreading the professional image and making a buck off us at the same time.

No way NPO, is this for real? All I've been hearing in my first semester is to represent nurses well. Hold your head high and make the profession proud and credible. We were instructed to not wear cartoon scrub tops unless you get a job in Peds, that they're unprofessional.

I seem to be in the minority here, but I've always thought nurses tend to be heavier drinkers than other professions. Or maybe it's just the stress of working in dementia, but a lot of the aides and charge nurses definitely look forward to having a drink or three after shift. Maybe it's just that most would assume nurses would be super-healthy and never ever drink so when they do it stands out in my mind more?

I don't believe that nurses are partiers especially in school. Who had time? I do find that a lot of nurses like to unwind with an alcoholic beverage but isn't red wine supposed to be good for your heart? As long as it's not in excess, I don't think it's a bad thing. Nurses should be healthy but unfortunately, we are also human too. I think that the shirts that make it seem like we are not professionals should be removed from their site. There are enough other vendors to get them elsewhere.

wow. I'm a nursing student who on occasion gets out and parties. NOTHING wrong with it. I will be starting my last semester in August. I have four kids as well. I have nurse friends who occasionally like to party. So what? Big deal? It's not like any one of us our alcoholics or drinking every night of the week....if that's the assumption. But every now and then? I do like to go out and have a good time. As a matter of fact a party bus is picking up all of us after our last final next week around noon for a bar crawl...and I'm excited. It's nice to let off steam now and again and just relax. School is very stressful and so is life in general.

I mean, I know how I partied during nursing school but most *normal* students wouldn't think of it until after the final was done. Well...as soon as the final was done...which sometimes meant starting the celebration at 10am.